Special Feature Review: Radiohead's In Rainbows

In Rainbows

Independent

Noah Love (CHARTattack)

10/16/2007 10:00pm

There's only one major problem with Radiohead's self-released seventh effort, and it's not with the music. The issue I have is that it's not so much a record as it is a social experiment. The day after its release, there were countless stories about how much people paid and infinite reviews from every listener who shelled out somewhere between 20 cents and who knows how much.

But where's the perspective? It seems to be non-existent, since listeners either declared it to be the best Radiohead record ever or a completely over-hyped piece of trash. (Our own Aaron Brophy titled his initial track-by-track analysis "Is Radiohead's In Rainbows The Single-Most Rock Critic Jizz-Worthy Album Ever?" His conclusion? Not so much.) And, of course, there were the in-betweeners who said it's not as good as Kid A or OK Computer, but certainly somewhere above Pablo Honey.

I wonder how most of the people who wrote their opinions felt the day after hearing the band's modern classics. And I also wonder how they feel about In Rainbows seven days later. Certainly some of them still feel exactly the same. But I bet anybody who kept listening has a wildly different take now than they did on Oct. 11. It certainly has for me.

There's another incredibly strange thing about In Rainbows that has to be addressed at the forefront and that is how familiar it is, but not stylistically. The tracks have been abundantly available online since almost all of them, save for "Reckoner" and "Faust Arp," were performed during the group's 2006 tours. This proved especially strange because it means listeners essentially knew what they were getting into before they paid whatever they wanted. So why the hype? Why the outrage over the hype? It's just music, people.

And it's fantastic music at that. No, it isn't Radiohead's best album. Truthfully, it's probably only the fifth- or sixth-best. While it's a hilarious notion to suggest that any band's sixth-best record could be great, that's just kind of how it is with Radiohead.

Its greatness starts with a change in attitude. It's a surprising shift, given Thom Yorke's unrelenting paranoid demeanour on his solo debut, The Eraser. The same man who muttered "This is fucked up" on "Black Swan" just over a year ago now sounds, for the most part, ebullient. Well, he certainly does on album opener "15 Step," even if lyrics such as, "You used to be alright/What happened?" don't. The song's dub influence and manipulated sonics prove one important thing in the opening moments of the band's first LP in four years: Still, nobody sounds like Radiohead.

Yorke is at his most energetic while wailing "Has the light gone out for you?/Because the light's gone out for me," over the guitar squelches of "Bodysnatchers," which somehow emulates both "2+2=5" and "There, There."Two of the quietest tracks played on last year's tour, "Nude" and "House Of Cards," both make the final cut, with the former being a string-heavy ballad and the latter an acoustic dirge. I would go so far as to say neither excited me during the 2006 performances, but Nigel Godrich's steady production makes each much stronger on the album.

Another two tracks that fall into the same category are "Arpeggi/Weird Fishes" — which is highlighted by some of the best guitar work ever set to tape — and "Jigsaw Falling Into Place." The beats and vocal performances on each are exceptional, and they work together to gel the middle to the end.

Much has been written of "Reckoner," a track that was played live once in 2001 and was once a guitar-heavy monster. On In Rainbows, it's nearer to a gospel piece, with Yorke unusually stretching his vocals into Marvin Gaye territory. "Faust Arp" has a sweet melody and cleanses the palette before an unpredictable latter half."All I Need," with its deep synth bass lines and delicate lyrics rank it among Radiohead's best tracks ever. That's a matter of personal preference, but it's worth mentioning that if I was making a mix of the band's work and could only choose 10 songs, it would make the cut.

Finally, there's "Videotape," which is at once one of the best and most disappointing songs on the record. It has a haunting piano line and one of Yorke's most passionate takes. But if you heard live versions, you know it could have been so much more. Without the Phil Selway beat and Jonny Greenwood guitar line that drove the song onstage, it never really explodes like it once did. But that's such a minor misstep, and hardly that, considering the song is excellent either way.

I say forget the hype. Forget about the second-guessing everyone will do when the B-sides finally leak. And forget about Radiohead slinking silently into the background. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of what comes next. If so, it's an amazing start.